


Regarding an Odd Friendship

by peaches2217



Category: Kung Fu Panda (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, Romance, tasukete yo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-29 09:45:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 11,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16741660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peaches2217/pseuds/peaches2217
Summary: For half his life, Po idolized the great Master Tigress, put her on a pedestal, high above him and the rest of the world. But it turns out she's not just the most kick-butt-awesome warrior in all of China: she's also wise, a great listener, a decent cook, and even pretty chill once you get to know her. But most of all, she's the greatest friend a panda could ask for.





	1. A Blustery Day

A shockingly cool breeze burst through the doors as they swung open, catching both of them off-guard.

Tigress shivered.

Almost before she had time to react, Po was suddenly no longer just behind her, but was instead sprinting down the corridor at a rate no panda should logically be able to move. Despite herself, she scoffed fondly: fierce snow leopards and homicidal peacocks were no match for the great Dragon Warrior. He would easily deflect their blows, redirect them, hoist them by their own petards.

But a bit of wind? All bets were off.

Just as she was about to follow after him, chastise and remind him that they kind of _needed_ to go to the village today, cold or no, a blur of black and white rounded the corner, rushing back down the hall and tripping right through the open doorway, landing on the ground with a _thud_ and bouncing with an undignified _flop_.

He was visibly embarrassed as she chuckled and helped him up, undoubtedly turning red beneath the thick white fur of his face. With Po back on his feet and dusting his shorts off, Tigress turned toward the palace stairs.

Something was flung around her shoulders.

Just before she could face the unknown assailant and knock them to the ground, a very rushed and almost comically panicked voice cut in: “Y-y-you just seemed kinda cold! It’s sorta old but pretty warm, so I hope y’don’t mind, heh.”

She cautiously paused and observed the cloth that had been draped around her shoulders. Po’s scarf.

When she looked up, he was smiling just slightly — more or less his default expression — glimmering jade eyes staring intensely ahead as if trying too hard to pretend nothing in particular had just happened. It was painfully obvious that he was pleased with himself.

She wasn’t even that cold. But why not let him have his moment?

“Thank you.” She let the smallest of grins slip onto her face as she adjusted the scarf so that she was uncomfortably hot and could hardly breathe. Beside her, the naive panda straightened up just noticeably.

“Glad I could help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! If you're reading this, then what you just read - and pretty much all of what's gonna be posted to this collection in the future - is older stuff of mine, written between late-2015 and mid-2017. They were all on my Tumblr, but I deleted Tumblr last year, and my KFP fics have been sitting in my Docs all sad and lonely, so I figured I should at least post some of the decent ones here.
> 
> Aside from this chapter, these are gonna be in semi-chronological order. (I wanted to start out with something short and sweet.)
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy this fluffy collection of one-shots!


	2. Smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Po tries to make a bad day a little better.

For Tigress, every day was a bad day.

There were always good moments, sure. A child wouldn’t cower from her, a villager would thank her, her comrades would successfully pull her into something that she ended up finding enjoyable. Maybe Shifu would express something like genuine pride in her, even if he didn’t voice it. Yet at the end of the day she would always sink onto her cot, utterly exhausted. Not from training, not from fighting, just from doing what she always did, day in and day out.

As if simply existing was taking its toll on her.

Life, at least, was beginning to return to normal. Even their newest addition was adjusting to his new place in the Palace amongst the warriors, and they in turn accepted him. He had defeated Tai Lung after all. This seemingly incompetent panda, chosen by the late Grandmaster Oogway to be Hero of All of China or something like that, had proven himself worthy.

Despite her initial disdain for him, she’d been impressed by his skill and his potential. She respected him.

That didn’t mean she particularly _liked_ him.

He knew this. And, unfortunately, he seemed to take this as a challenge.

On this particularly bad day, Tigress just wanted to be alone. But _he_ wouldn’t allow that.

“Let me help you carry water from the well, Master Tigress!” and “Let me fix you something to eat, Master Tigress!” and “I’ll help you train in any way I can, Master Tigress!” followed her around all day long, the constant stream of meaningless words never once relenting. That dumb panda could not. Take. A _hint_. No matter how much she growled or glared or suggested he might be needed somewhere else, he never once left her side.

And now that she was finally — _finally —_ alone in her room, she heard a knock on the frame of her door. Gee. No telling who _that_ could be.

“Master Tigress? You skipped dinner.”

With a quiet growl, she lifted herself from her meditative pose and flung the door back. Who else was standing there but him, a bowl of tofu buns in his paws?

“I wasn’t hungry.”

“You gotta eat something. Food makes ya strong!”

“And fat.”

Without another word, Tigress began to slide the door shut— but a paw stopped it in its tracks.

“Master Tigress.” The panda sighed, yet in his eyes as he pulled the door open once more was a plea. A pathetic, shameless plea. “I’ll be blunt. You’re really blunt. I can be blunt too. Then I’ll leave you alone. Swear.”

She didn’t quite believe that he _could_ leave anyone alone. But the promise of finally being left to her own was too much of a temptation to pass up. So she crossed her arms in front of her, waiting for his great display of bluntness.

He looked left, then right, then left again. Then he leaned forward. Not enough to really make her uncomfortable, but enough so that his voice could be heard even in a whisper.

“It’s exhausting, isn’t it?” he asked quietly, his green eyes sparkling as he spoke. “Every single day, get up, do what you gotta do, go to bed, repeat. I’m gonna be honest here, I didn’t know kung fu masters could get this because I always thought, ‘Hey, their lives are too exciting for that, I just have it because I’m a loser!’ and all that, but I guess it really _can_ affect anyone because—”

“Your _point,_ panda?” Tigress pressed, a little bit shocked at his opening remark. He’d… actually hit the nail on the head.

“Ah, right, right! To put it bluntly—” the panda smiled, lowering his voice yet again. “I have it too, Master Tigress! I’m sure they’ve got some kinda science-y name for it, but that thing where you can do nothing and still feel so tired all the time and some days you literally _can’t_ make yourself get outta bed no matter how hard you try—”

The fur on the back of her neck bristled.

“Who told you about that?”

It was either Viper or Monkey. Viper had been kind and sweet toward the panda since his arrival, while Monkey had discovered that the two shared many similarities in what they considered “fun”, meaning that they were the two who were closest to him. One of them had the audacity to tell him about _her_. About her issues. Probably in a pathetic attempt to make her seem “more sympathetic” or something like—

“No one! That’s what I’m trying to say, Master Tigress.” His smile was both elated now and, as expected, sympathetic. “Some days you just wonder what the point is. If you get out of bed, today will be the exact same as yesterday, which’ll just be the exact same as tomorrow. That’s life, and life stopped being fun a long time ago. So what’s the point of it all?”

Tigress’ arms dropped to her sides, her carefully controlled expression faltering with each breath.

She’d never told any of that to anyone.

The panda nodded, apparently pleased that he’d guessed correctly. “Here’s the thing. I go through that too. Every day. Some days are better than others, but it’s almost like… Like _every_ day’s a bad day. It’s no fun, but you can’t really tell anyone because they’ll just tell you your problems aren’t as bad or— or someone has it worse. Right?

“I’ve never actually met anyone else with it. I kinda thought for the longest time I was the only one in the whole world who ever felt this way. So I’m just now figuring out that different people handle it differently. That’s why I’ve been, okay, a _little_ overbearing: that’s how I deal with it. When I’m with people and doing fun things, I feel great. I _act_ all happy-go-lucky until I actually feel that way.”

Shifu’s conversation with him on the Palace steps. From what Tigress had overheard that night when she went to confront Tai Lung, she knew that at least some of his cheerful disposition was faked. She’d never stopped to consider that the panda was _forcing_ himself to be happy all the time.

How could anyone make themselves do that?

“I just…” The panda — Po, that was his name, wasn’t it — sighed again, somewhat wistfully. “I just wanna see you smile. Because I know how hard it is to go through and I’m assuming you’ve been going through it alone your whole life, just like I have. But you’re happier when you’re alone, right? ‘Cause then you don’t have to pretend. I get it, I really do.”

Leaning back into a normal standing position, Po passed the forgotten bowl of still-warm food to her paws.

“So I’ll back off. But just know that if you ever wanna talk, I’m right here. Well, across the hall, but— you get the point. Everything will stay between you and me. Confidentiality guaranteed!”

Nodding and bidding her goodnight, he headed back in the direction of the kitchen.

Tigress couldn’t make herself move from the doorway for a good two or three minutes.

This newcomer, this person she’d only willingly spoken to a handful of times since knowing him, had just summed up her life in a matter of minutes. And asserted that he’d had a similar experience.

Was he raised at the hands of a neglectful fath— master as well? Was he feared, hated? Of course he was hated. She, for the longest time, had hated him.

What all had he gone through in his life that made him just as messed up as she was?

The right corner of her lip tugged up toward her cheek, then the left.

Perhaps she would ask him the next time they spoke.


	3. Midnight Showers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tigress makes a drastic and potentially life-altering decision.

If not for her exceptional night vision, Tigress wouldn’t have been able to see beyond her own nose.

Every last star was hiding, as though fearful of outshining the upcoming spectacle. But the empty sky did nothing to hinder the distant panda’s enthusiasm, it seemed: if she was reading his silhouette correctly, his head was tilted back, eyes glued to the endless darkness above him.

She wasn’t sure whether to smile at his boyish excitement or shake her head. She went for the middle ground and just walked on.

Po’s left ear twitched when she was ten paces away, and he turned over that shoulder to face her as she approached, waving her closer. She could see now that he had brought a lantern out with him, a lantern which sat to his right and had likely been extinguished as soon as he’d found a spot to sit. His left paw patted the ground next to him.

“...No lantern?” he whispered while Tigress made herself comfortable as she could on the cool, hard earth. “I can still hardly see anything!”  
  
“I’m a cat. We’re known for our ability to see in the dark.”

Thoughtfully, Po nodded. “Is that why your eyes glow when there’s no light? Does the glowiness help you see better or something? It’s like a little lantern in your head or something?”

In the year or so since their friendship had begun to take form, the panda had developed a sort of fascination with her eyes. The fact that they gave off a light of their own was, in his words, _“The coolest thing ever!”_ — she had long since learned that he used that phrase to describe just about everything he found even mildly interesting, but even now his eyes were locked with hers, searching them with a wide smile as though he might find the secret to her _superawesome see-in-the-dark power_ (as he might put it).

“...Your eyes are, like, the only thing I can see right now. This is so cool.”

Inwardly, Tigress sighed. The great Dragon Warrior had yet to develop a verbal filter. And at his age, it was unlikely he ever would. At least she was better equipped to play along with his painful earnestness nowadays. Before she could respond, though, his attention turned back to the sky, just as quickly as it had been diverted.

“Anyway, thanks for meeting me out here on such short notice.”

“It’s no issue.” Her eyes, the deep night’s only source of light, closed, and she chuckled. “Sneaking out at night, meeting up in secret, having to keep our voices down... We’re behaving like teenagers.”

“Gives ya that wild and crazy feeling, huh?”

“I wouldn’t call it wild _or_ crazy. Immature, maybe.”

“Hey, sometimes you gotta be a little immature. It’s healthy.”

Having given her own gaze up to the sky, trying to see if perhaps she could catch a glimpse before Po’s eyes could even detect the light, she instead imagined his matter-of-fact smile, the single nod of his head he’d sometimes give when he made a statement he considered profound.

“‘Immaturity is healthy’. That’s a new one.”

“Even Master Oogway was immature from time to time, wasn’t he?”

For a reason she couldn’t quite explain, this immediately struck a nerve that Tigress wasn’t even aware existed. A feeling that burned less than anger but more than simple irritation rose inside of her and sat at the pit of her stomach. “Master Oogway,” she snapped, maybe a bit harder than she meant to, “was a wise and powerful master.”

Po wasn’t at all taken aback by her outburst when she faced him. In fact, he still wasn’t even looking at her. “Exactly. And at a thousand years old, he helped Monkey hide cookies all over Master Shifu’s room and laughed his shell off while Shifu drove himself nuts trying to figure out where they all came from.”

The agitation drove itself from her system as he told the story. Yes, she remembered that. Three years ago. It had happened three years ago. She had prepared a heavy chastising for Monkey, but silenced herself upon learning that the old grandmaster had himself been head of the childish prank.

Po hadn’t been there. He only knew of it because the story came up at the dinner table one night.

Still, a wistful smile came across his face as though he were reliving it.

“I always really looked up to him. Even when I was younger. Like, since I was a teenager, you and him were my idols. And I…” He trailed off now, and for the first time that night he looked down; he looked away from the sky and from Tigress’ glowing eyes and stared hard at his own feet.

“...Hey, Tigress? Can I tell ya somethin’? Something I haven’t even told the others?”

Concern prickled lightly at her skin, nothing too severe, but enough to send a minuscule chill through her spine. “It stays between us.”

Folding his arms over his knees to form a cushioned platform, Po rested his chin and closed his eyes. “I wish I’d gotten to know him better. Like you guys did. Like… I feel like, if I’d gotten to know him even more, got to spend more time with him, he’d be like a grandpa to me. I never knew my grandpa, so I think that’d be really cool.”

“Are you aware of how many times you used ‘Like’ just now?”

He laughed now. A sensation like relief overcame her at this real, genuine laugh, this expression of joy and giddiness. It shocked her.

Like her, Po had many secrets. And he was just as good at hiding them as she was. But he was, by nature, a light-hearted person. He could share some of his secrets with a convincing smile and a practiced air of nonchalance. But even he slipped up from time to time and his melancholy soul peaked through the layers of fur and fat and fun, and at those times…

The panda was the first friend she’d made since she was seventeen. Rarely did she have to deal head-on with one person’s emotions. Especially when said person felt emotions as intensely as she did. And she was still highly uncomfortable doing so.

And Po probably knew that. He was quick to drop the subject, laugh at her criticism of his poor grammar instead. “I’m the son of a chef. I don’t really have the _eloquent sophistication of language_ you guys have.”

“Now we’re using big words. Can you write everything you just said?”

“Tigress, I never even learned to _read_ beyond a ten-year-old’s level. You think I could _write_ all of that?”

Quiet laughter filled the dark space between them.

“You know, you’re getting a lot better at lightening up.” Leaning back on his hands, he smiled at her, a smile that told her he meant his words as a compliment. Yet all at once, Tigress forced her laughter away and did her best to frown or scowl or do _something_ with her face to show disapproval.

This just garnered a chuckle from her friend. “Work in progress. We’re getting there.”

A flash caught the corner of her eye.

“Speaking of light…” As if the words alone wouldn’t give him a clue, she pointed up to the sky.

He gasped when he saw it.

“No way! Oh gosh, no way!” He leaned forward, wrapping his arms around his knees and letting out a little _Oh-hohohohoo!_ as another meteor streaked the sky. “This is too awesome!”

This was the position he remained frozen in, craning his neck as though he could get his face closer to the sky, closer to the shooting stars. Tigress, for her part, did her best to enjoy the show. But there wasn’t much to see. Not tonight anyway. The shower wasn’t even supposed to be until tomorrow night. The six of the Jade Palace warriors had all planned on watching it then.

The moment he’d learned the spectacle would be visible a night earlier, Po was quick to rush to Tigress’ room during her evening meditation and all but barge through her door to tell her.

And only her.

During the lapses in light, she found herself looking over at the panda. Only once did he close his eyes: during those three or four seconds, he shut them tightly and pressed his grinning lips together and concentrated so hard she was sure his head would explode.

Making a wish. A fully-grown adult sat at her side, making a wish on a shooting star.

...Not that she’d never done the same. It had just… been a long time. A very long time.

 _“Close your eyes, young Tigress,”_ Master Oogway had encouraged, demonstrating as he spoke, “ _and make a wish. Any wish your heart desires.”_

The ten-year-old had followed suit and finished his words: “ _And make sure not to tell a single soul.”_

_“Not even Shifu.”_

_“_ ** _Especially_** _not Shifu.”_

And they had laughed. Quietly, so the grumpy red panda wouldn’t know they had snuck out against his orders.

In the present day, Tigress felt herself melt into the darkness, gave into its comforting hold on her, let herself become immersed in wonder.

Hours later, she found her voice.

“...Po.”

“Hmm?” Emerald eyes were still fixed firmly in place, sparkling, glowing, just as brightly as her own.

“Why did you only tell _me_ that the meteor shower would be starting tonight?”

He just shrugged. “Figured you were more into stars and all that.”

His eyes closed again. He wasn’t telling the whole truth.

For the time being… she wouldn’t press it.

A handful of meteors shot through the sky as they watched. Most of them were waiting for another night. In all of those hours, panda and tiger sat motionless, waiting patiently for them to step out of their comfort zones and light up the darkness, one at a time, each more brilliant than the one that came before it.

It was around two in the morning when their voices once more broke the chilled air.

“Po.”

“Yeah?”

“Oogway would have greatly favored you.”

He thanked her with a bright smile. “What brought that up?”

Returning his earlier vagueness, she just shrugged.

It wasn’t something she just came up with then and there. It was something that she had put much thought into as the strangest friendship she’d ever known bloomed and came into fruition. But then and there still, she finalized the most reckless, _immature_ decision she’d ever made.

She... trusted him. Just as he trusted her, she trusted him.

Tigress had many secrets to tell, many stories to share. And for the longest time, she contented herself to the belief that she’d take them all to her grave.

Sitting side-by-side with Po in absolute darkness, she decided that someday, she would share every single one with him.

Someday.  



	4. Swinging at Trees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a promise of sorts is made.

“I give up!”

“Ten more seconds.”

“Ten more—”  Wheezing cutting off the last word, Po shot the most incredulous look he could muster at the tiger sitting in a lotus position, who was observing his misery with a straight face. “I can’t go ten more seconds! That’s the whole point of tapping out! I’ve never done this! I’m not as strong or as awesome or as nerve-dead as you! I can feel all of this! And it hurts! Like, a _lot_ _!_ ”

With the last word, he landed one last blow on the ironwood before him. A loud _crack_ came not from the bark, but from his own hand.

Tigress’ shadow loomed over him as he rolled on the damp ground in agony.

“Nine seconds.”

Po’s eyes flew open. He even managed to sit up from his pity party to observe her face, wondering for the life of him if she was being serious. Her calm smile suggested she was.

“Not bad for your first time doing this,” she observed, folding her arms over her chest. “I didn’t even think you’d make it to five more seconds. I keep forgetting how easy it is for you to surpass expectations.”

A surge of power washed through him suddenly at her words, bringing him to his feet and straightening his spine and making him feel just as tall as the tree he had been punching, as though he could uproot it and fling it clear into India.

“That _was_ pretty cool, right? I mean, yeah, it hurt, but I powered through it! I could go a full _fifteen_ seconds next time! You know what?” He began to shuffle his feet, bouncing and curling his agonized paws into fists and throwing punches at thin air like a child trying to impress their crush. “I'll do it again! Right now! Let me at it! Big freaking tree? No freaking problem!”

“You’re bleeding.”

Crimson droplets trickled down his knuckles and were scattered over the earthy floor.

Ah. So he was.

As Tigress bandaged his broken skin, she explained the lesson that she hoped he would consider should he agree to continue Hardstyle training: “When one is at their limits, they must go until they can no longer press on. Then, they must press on for just a bit longer.”

“So when I gave up, I gave up because I thought I couldn’t handle any more pain, but it turns out I could!”

“Exactly.” She finished her patching job and gave a curt nod. “Your hands will be sensitive for a while, but eventually the pain will numb.”

Just as it did for her.

Guilt swept over him like a wave in a violent storm.

“I called you nerve-dead.” Closing his eyes and groaning, Po pressed his palms to the sides of his head. " _I called you nerve-dead._ I can’t believe I called you—”

A paw on his shoulder shut him up.

“You were ranting.” Tigress was giving him another smile when he opened his eyes, amber orbs filled with understanding. “Whatever helps you get through it. When I first started punching trees to deaden my hands, in order to ignore the pain, I would scream profanities at the top of my lungs. Ask any of the Five. You could hear me from anywhere in the Palace.”

The panda couldn’t help but laugh. He had only heard Tigress curse once, and he'd nearly gone into shock when it happened. He couldn’t imagine that kind of language spewing from her mouth in a constant stream.

“So…” He rubbed a sore paw in another sore paw. “You really think I’m gonna be able to do this?”

Tigress withdrew her hand to gather up the first aid supplies. “I won’t push you to the extent I pushed myself. Your style of fighting would suffer if you lost the feeling in your hands. But it still won’t be easy.” A pause, and then, “And it may take a while, since you’re starting so late in life.”

“How long we talking?”

“Years.”

“And you’re willing to train me that long?”  
  
“If you’re willing to stick with it,” his best friend assured, standing and offering a hand to him, “then whether it takes five years, ten, twenty, a hundred, I’ll be by your side the whole way.”

Something about those words — they way they were spoken at a higher pitch than her normal contralto, or perhaps the glimmer in her eye and the twitch in her tail that made him think maybe, just maybe, her words held more than just face value — made Po’s heart flutter, made a quick rush of blood rise to his cheeks as he took her hand.

Whatever it was, he felt comforted by them. He smiled as he pulled himself up.

“Sounds great.”


	5. Into Battle We Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tigress addresses her mortality, and maybe Po does the same.

Going into battle always excited Po.

Whenever the news was announced that the Furious Five (and the Dragon Warrior) would be sent off to a city far from the Valley of Peace, the panda would bounce on his toes and curl his arms into his chest and insist they go  _ right now _ , what’s the point in waiting.

Had it ever occurred to him that every battle they went into could easily be their last?

He sat now at the front of the boat, overlooking the black water that stretched out ahead of them. Still. Far too still, both the water and the one watching it.

The moon might as well have been nonexistent, covered by dense layers of clouds, but Tigress had excellent vision, and so she easily maneuvered her way to him and sat by his side. He greeted her with a smile and a nod before turning his attention back out to the sea.

Po’s jade eyes didn’t glow in darkness as hers did, but they still glimmered enough for her to discern the unmistakable presence of exhilaration. Though the look never faded, his smile wasn’t quite as wide as it had been when they’d received the call, and it even faltered a few times before returning, feeling very much forced.

He wasn’t just excited. He was nervous.

Tigress felt the question press at the back of her teeth: was he realizing that they might not get out of this alive? Did the thought of mortality keep him awake and out here, silent and still and head buzzing with unsorted thoughts? The fear of never returning? Of failing the mission? Of letting down the one that he had always considered Father, of never gaining his full approval and dying knowing that he had never earned the right to be loved?

No, wait. That was just her.

Her paws rested in her lap.

Another paw covered her left one.

When she turned to face him, Po’s smile was brighter, more genuine. Comforting. He had seen that she was troubled. He offered neither words of encouragement nor reassurance that there was nothing to fear. In the gentle squeeze of his hand as his fingers curled around her palm, he offered companionship.

They were both afraid. Maybe for different reasons, but afraid all the same. Neither of them had the answers that could quell each other’s fears. What they had was each other.

Resting her shoulder against his and returning his touch, Tigress turned her attention back out to the sea, a rich hue of indigo. Po was such an open scroll, so seemingly simple, yet beneath the exterior of fur and fat and fun was a troubled man who, much like her, rarely opened up completely to anyone.

What she had done to deserve such a friend as him she might never know.

Just for tonight, she decided not to question it and just let it be.


	6. Banish Summer From This Hall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a panda has a heat stroke.

Po was not a fan of the summer season.

Whenever the refreshing chill of the wind became scarce and the sun blazed its hottest, he would be reduced to little more than an unmoving mass of black and white, lying face-down on the marble floor of the Hall of Heros or the cool concrete of the dungeons. Occasionally he would risk stepping outside to find a stream to drink from or soak in for a few hours. In training, he was slow and sluggish, easy to throw off balance and overwhelm, and he’d always rush back immediately into the halls once exercises finished.

In other words, Po was no fun in the summer season.

“It’s my fur,” he’d pouted to Tigress one particularly scorching afternoon, both up to their chins in the icy water of a random river. “It’s really thick and I can’t shed it. So I’m like this big walking furnace of heat and misery.”

“Have you considered shaving yourself? I’m sure it would grow back in time for winter.”

“You’re laughing.” Though he had smiled too as he cupped more water into his paws and poured it over his ears. “But I _did_ try that once.” Then he’d shuddered. “ _Once._ ”

Shaving him was something that had briefly tempted Tigress, actually: sneak into his room when he was sleeping and rid him of his reason to complain. But that, of course, would be an obscene violation of his space and self (plus he would probably complain even more about being hairless), so the thought was quickly abandoned.

As the summer drew on, Po became increasingly insufferable. And Po was never one to suffer in silence.

So the warriors of the Jade Palace suffered because of his suffering. They fell behind in training because of his lag. They insisted he stop complaining when he announced his intent to lay down for a short bit one day (in the middle of training, no less), reminded him that they were all pretty miserable too. They groaned loudly in agitation when he did anyway. They were all prepared to rough him up after nearly ten minutes of his heat-induced laziness.

They started to worry when he wouldn’t wake up.

And when they realized he was entirely unresponsive, they began to panic.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Maybe shaving his fur _wouldn’t_ have been such a bad idea, Tigress decided as she propped up the unconscious panda’s head, tilting a cup of water to his parched lips.

He’d had a heat stroke. His condition wasn’t critical, thank the gods. With enough rest and re-hydration, he’d be back to his old self, lazing around and complaining about the existence of summer until autumn finally made its glorious return. _But it very well could have been worse,_  she thought with a sharp pang of guilt.

“Y’know, I think Po’s got the right idea,” Monkey laughed, placing a cold rag over his friend’s forehead once Tigress had coerced enough liquid back into his system. “Maybe we should _all_ get overheated and pass out. Maybe Shifu would call off training until it’s actually a reasonable temperature!”

This earned him a hard _thwack_ to the back of the head from Viper’s tail.

Crane had flown to the village to inform Po’s fathers of the incident ( _“They’re probably gonna panic and then chew Shifu out,”_ he’d said, _“which is honestly something I’d kinda like to see”_ ); they arrived an hour later, Li held Ping back as he threatened to beat Shifu with his favorite ladle ( _"If I didn't consider you such a friend I'd only beat you with my **second-** favorite ladle! Consider the offer a great privilege!"_), and they all fussed over Po for a few hours more. Eventually, stomachs began to growl, so content in knowing their buddy was in good hands, the Five made their exit.

The Five minus one, anyway.

“I want to apologize,” Tigress said once the room was cleared. She knelt on the floor, head bowed, fist-in-palm. “Po always complains about the heat during this time of year, so we ignored it, but I noticed he’s been a lot more vocal about it recently. I should have known something was wrong. Forgive me for failing to take care of him.”

“Oh, pish.” Mr. Ping pulled away from Po’s chest, where he had been listening to his breathing, and gestured for her to sit close to them. “You always take such good care of him. I’ll bet you were the first one to respond when he passed out.”

Li Shan hummed his agreement. “I just can’t believe this hasn’t happened before,” he said, patting her comfortingly on the back. “We’re not really built for hot weather. Back in the panda village, we’d all just stay in the water all day, if we even left home.”

Tigress couldn’t help but chuckle. “That’s more or less what he does when we’re not training.”

“Old habits die hard!” Ping laughed. “When he was a teenager, Po would take a bath first thing in the morning, then he’d sneak off at lunch to take another one. Oh,” he sighed fondly, “I couldn’t keep enough water stocked in the summer.”

The thought that immediately came to Tigress pressed against her teeth for a moment. There was a good chance Po wouldn't have wanted the topic brought up… But he wasn’t even awake, and panda and goose likely both knew of it anyway. Ping had probably been there. So she let the thought be verbalized.

“Rumor has it he shaved himself once."

“He _what?!_ ” A deep guffaw bellowed from Li. “Ping, you never told me about that one!”

The three sat together like this, swapping stories of Po and pandas and intolerable heat, until the sun dipped behind the mountains, casting deep shadows against the paper walls and onto the hardwood floor of Po’s room. Even whenever they paused to change out the cloth on Po’s head or give him more water, the conversation never broke.

Though when the two fathers became caught up in a tale of Po attempting to fix the roof of Mr. Ping’s shop, Tigress glanced down at the slumbering panda. He hadn’t moved since he’d been laid there early that afternoon. His arms were still by his sides, and his lips at least didn’t look so dried out, but his eyes were still shut lightly, breath shallow yet steady. Completely unmoving.

It truly concerned her. Maybe more than it should have. Surely he should have moved by now, at least  _somewhat._

“Well,” Ping suddenly piped up, startling Tigress out of her silent musings, “this was all so sudden that I didn’t have time to properly shut down the shop, so we really _should_ be getting back.”

Another laugh came from Li as he nudged Tigress. “He’s not lying. We were both worried out of our minds, but Ping here just starts _screaming_ at everyone to get out and—”

“Yes, yes, another story for another time.” The goose impatiently wrapped his wings around Li’s much larger paw, quite literally dragging him toward the door. “I’m sure Po will be waking up soon and he’ll get worried about us _and I’m sure he’ll want to be alone with—_ ”

“Right, right!” Li turned as he tripped over his own feet, trying not to trample the much smaller dad. “It was great talking to you for so long! Tell Po we’ll be up here to visit again tomorrow!”

“Unless you’d rather us not,” Ping called over his own shoulder. “Then we’ll understand!”

The door slammed shut. Leaving a stunned and frankly flustered Tigress to stare at the entrance and wish she didn’t know exactly why they had left in such a rush.

She hadn't been staring at him for _that_ long, had she?

“Heh. Sorry about that,” spoke a soft, raspy voice behind her. “They’re not really subtle, are they?”

And speaking of unexpected.

Eyes widening, ears flattened against her head, Tigress whipped back around to face Po, who, aside from the half-smile he wore now, was still in the same position he had been in before.

“You could have told us you were awake.” Almost instinctively, she moved to slide an arm under his shoulders.

“Sure,” the panda agreed as he struggled to sit up, “but then they woulda left sooner. You guys were having a good time.” Once he was upright, he brought a paw to his head, clutching and wincing. “Ugh... But my dads really like you. I didn’t wanna ruin the moment.”

Tigress grunted, picking up the rag that had dropped to the floor. “You’re not even that still when you're asleep for real. I was beginning to think you’d gone comatose.”

“Oh.” Po glanced at the wall farthest from her, fiddling with his blunted claws. “Sorry.”

They didn’t talk much more after that, mostly because it became painful for Po to speak for too long. Tigress got him a fresh cup of water (and promptly chastised him for gulping it down too quickly for his stomach to handle), got him another cold cloth, and informed the others that he had woken up. By the time she deemed him properly cared for, night had fallen.

She made sure that he would be fine until morning, bade him goodnight, and turned to leave.

“Tigress—”

A paw caught her own before she had taken more than a single step.

“I’m really sorry,” Po said, not sounding quite as pathetic as he had an hour ago. “I didn’t mean to worry you guys. Especially you. Please please _please_ don’t feel like this is your fault, okay? ‘Cause it’s not.”

Turning back to face him, Tigress caught his eyes, glowing dimly in the moonlight filtered in through the thin walls. “You were awake long enough to hear that?”

He grinned. “Nope. I figured you were blaming yourself though, Miss ‘It’s-My-Duty-To-Protect-You’.”

“Well, it is.” She squeezed his paw tightly. “If I couldn’t see why you hate summer so much, I can see it now.”

“It’s not all bad.” His gentle grin shifted, became a touch more mischievous. “If it means you end up taking care of me like this, I’d go through this every year without complaint.”

Tigress scoffed. “Don’t push it, Dragon Warrior.” She let go of his hand in favor of heading for the door once again. “I’m across the hall if you need me.”

Of course, she only took another two steps before he stopped her again.

“What if I need you now?”

“Depends. What do you need?”

His arms were stretched out toward her when she turned back.

“No. You’ll overheat again.”

“O _kay_ ,” Po sulked, trying his hardest (and failing just as hard) to keep from laughing. “But I slept all day, so I might be up for a while. And I don’t like being lonely.”

In the end, Tigress refused to sleep close to him lest he absorb too much extra heat, but she agreed to stay, curling up nearby on a pile of blankets. She wasn’t sure when exactly she drifted off. But when her eyes fluttered open shortly before the sun had peeked over the horizon, she found that, in the night, Po had reached over and taken her paw in his own.

In his sleep, he smiled.

She couldn’t help but feel that his little quip the previous evening held a point. Summer wasn’t too much fun. It was humid and miserable and lasted far too long. But for moments like this, the heat was more than worth the bearing.


	7. A Belated Goodnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Po puts his feelings into words and the Five just want to go to bed.

“Oh shut _up already!_ "  came the frustrated cry a few rooms down. “You two have been talking _nonstop all day and I just want to sleep!_ Is that so much to _ask?!_ "

Tiger and panda had both gone completely silent and rigid at the first shout, faces rushing with blood as Monkey’s sudden laughter joined Mantis’ ranting.

“Yeah, guys,” he all but howled, “show some consideration! Get a room!”  
  
“ _No!_ " Mantis shouted back. "Then they’d just be up talking all night!”  
  
“ _Talking_ _!_ Is _that_ what the kids are calling it nowadays?”

A snarl pulled at Tigress’ lips, baring her sharp teeth as a growl rumbled in her throat. Frankly, Po felt much the same way, but less angry and more… startled. Embarrassed.

They _had_ been by each other’s sides all day. At breakfast that morning, he had begun to tell a story about the summer he had tried to shave his fur, which reminded her of another time when she was a cub and had accidentally burned half of Shifu’s tail, which reminded _him_ of the time he’d nearly burned down his father’s kitchen and half the house…

Po hadn’t really thought about how long they had been chatting. Honestly, he had just been grateful for the distraction the constant chatter provided. For the first time in weeks, he had been able to spend hours with his closest friend without delving into _those thoughts_.

“Well your _SHOUTING_ certainly isn’t helping!” Viper hissed from across the hall. “How about _EVERYONE SHUT UP_ so I can get my beauty sleep?”

“One problem with that,” Crane piped up, much calmer than his companions. “You can’t sleep for a whole month, Viper, so you might as well give up while you're ahead.”

Silence.

Then uproarious laughter from all but the butt of the joke and the two still frozen in the hallway.

At last, Po forced himself to relax, silently willing Tigress to do the same. Amber eyes connected with his own — amber and gold, glowing brightly against the darkness and piercing straight into his soul _wait no stop don’t start thinking like that again_ — and they closed as she inhaled steadily through her nose.

The laughter died down.

“Seriously,” Mantis said, sounding already as if he were drifting off, “go to bed. You guys can talk tomorrow.”

“Yeah, do us all a favor and kiss her goodnight already,” Monkey added.

There was that snarl again. Brows furrowed and fangs flashed, bright white and gleaming and terrifyingly lethal yet so startlingly beautif _uuuuuustop it stop it STOP IT_

Everyone had gone quiet once more. It was just them.

It was just them.

“ _Well_ , if everyone’s done,” Tigress grumbled, glaring in the general direction of her fellow masters. When she turned back, her tense form loosened. Her eyes softened. She looked at Po in that way he had only ever seen her look at _him_.

That look...

The thin moonlight streaming in through the walls cast a dim glow against her fur, bright orange and black streaked and edged with glimmering silver. Every curve of her broad shoulders and muscular arms was outlined even more intensely and _you’re thinking about it again but_ the white fringe of her face completed the look, framing those magnificent, flaming eyes and that _stop it stop it don’t you DARE YOU’RE GETTING DANGEROUSLY_ gentle smile that tugged at her lips—

_She’s beautiful. She’s beautiful good gods in the heavens above she’s so unbelievably undeniably—_

“Good night, Po.”

To the panda’s horror, the automatic response didn’t come automatically as it should have.

 _—really really freaking_ **_extremely_ ** _gorgeous can I just blink and then keep this image in my head like forever oh there’s no way anyone can legally be so—_

What he managed was much more well thought-out and sounded a great deal more intelligent.

“Uh…”

Her smile wavered. “....Po. Are you feeling alright?”

 _—freaking_ **_pretty_ ** _and oh Oogway help me she’s my friend stop thinking like this this is horrible but I just wanna hold her and kiss her and admire—_

“Ye-yeah!” he managed to croak out at long, long last. “Just, y’know, they were being…”

To his immense relief, she nodded in agreement. “Some people just don’t know when to keep their mouths shut.” Sliding her door open, Tigress stepped into her room, but not before gracing him with another of her Looks. “See you in the morning.”

The door slid shut behind her.

Po’s thoughts came grinding to a halt.

All that registered to him was that image he had captured in his mind’s eye, his heart working frantically as though it were desperately trying to burst through his chest. Dizziness. Shakiness. Biter bile was on the back of his tongue.

The words came rushing out before he could stop them.

“I love you.”

Silence.

His heart slowed, leaving him completely drained; he wasn’t aware until then that he had begun sweating profusely. He felt horrible. Yet still... so _relieved._ He’d said it. He’d said it. And by the grace of the gods, she hadn’t heard it.

With a _click_ , the door slid back.

 _And_ , of course, he had jinxed it.

Through his panic, he forced himself to meet Tigress’ eyes as she peered at him, brow raised.

“Did you say something?”

Maybe he hadn’t screwed up after all.

“I-I was just saying I forgot to tell you—” Po chuckled a little bit too loudly, gesturing wildly as he tried to figure out what to do with his still-shaking hands. “To go a— to go along with that last story, afterwards, my uncle Yang—”

A collective groan rose up from four different voices.

“Po.”

“Yeahuh?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Got it. ‘Night.”

The door shut once more.

He took a deep, shuddering breath, held it, then let it out slowly. He hadn’t screwed it up. She hadn’t heard him. He’d gotten it off his chest and no one had been hurt. That hadn’t been so bad. In fact, he felt kind of… euphoric.

_I’m in love with my best friend._

Grinning from ear to ear, Po steadied himself with another breath, then turned and took a step toward his own room.

And promptly planted face-first onto the floor.


	8. A Bet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Po and Tigress fool absolutely no one.

“A month,” Li said, eyes never leaving the pair currently helping a family of pigs with repairs on their house. “I give ‘em a month.”

“Oh, _please_ ,” Mei Mei interjected in return, eyes rolling. “Have you _seen_ the way they look at each other?”

As if on cue, Po and Tigress caught eyes; their gazes held for just a second or two longer than might typically be considered acceptable, smiling solicitously, before suddenly both shook as if startled out of a trance and whipped back to face opposite directions.

“A week.” The effeminate panda nodded curtly. “Tops.”

A resigned sigh sounded from behind the debating pair. “Another one of your bets?” Mr. Ping clicked his tongue in feigned disapproval as he approached the two much larger creatures, coming to stand between them with his wings on his hips. “What are the stakes this time?”

“Ten yuan.” Mei Mei gestured in turn to the tiger and panda conveniently sharing another extended glance. “Those two. Your dad-pal says they’ll get together within a month, and I’m saying they’ll ‘fess up before the end of the week.”

The older goose contemplated his son in the distance, who was now hanging onto the railing of the house’s roof, having slipped and fallen whilst watching the object of his rather painfully obvious affection. “I’m in.” He placed a wing on Li’s furry arm as the three watched Tigress hoist Po back onto the roof, their paws remaining clasped even after he had established his footing. “Let’s raise it to twenty. And I’ll side with Mei Mei on this one.”

“What?!” The greying panda pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. “Come on, you’re gonna go with the youngster on this one?”  
  
Ping just laughed. “This has been going on for no less than two years,” he said as he pivoted and waddled back toward the restaurant, “and, frankly, I’m not planning on waiting another month for it to be resolved.”

Helplessly, Li sent a pitiful grin to Mei Mei.

The younger panda just giggled.

No one seemed to notice that the topics of the conversation still had yet to let go of each other’s hands.


	9. Child's Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which two friends discuss the future.

“ _Whoa—!_ ”

Tigress was yanked by the hand before she could even inquire what had caught his eye, dragged and tripping over her feet for a few yards before gathering her bearings enough to keep up.

“Over here!” Po shouted as he continued pulling her along. “It’s somewhere around—”

She was slammed against his back as he skidded to a stop.

“Here!"

In front of them was a small ring, in which stood a very small goat and an even smaller piglet. They made calculated circles around one another, eyes never leaving their opponents, arms pulled up in a rather primitive defensive stance. The children were watched carefully by an elderly bull and cheered on by others that wore the same simple clothes and looked to be about their age, as well as a handful of adults that had gathered around the ring.

“C’mon,” Po said, leading her less forcibly to a clearing large enough for both of them to stand side-by-side. “Looks like it’s just starting.”

Tigress had a secret, a secret only those closest to her could ever hope to know: she had an affinity for children. Small, innocent, hopeful. A natural protector whose childhood had been... less than ideal, Tigress found that the most fulfilling aspect of her job as a guardian of the Valley of Peace was the protection of its youth. So long as she lived and breathed, she vowed that any child under her protection would never have to worry for their safety. ( _"Adults are stupid and can handle the consequences of their actions on their own,"_ she'd explained before.  _"But a child's innocence should be protected for as long as possible. The world is a cold place. One should enjoy the illusion of eternal harmony while they can."_ )

Ever since learning about this, Po had started up something of a tradition between them: whenever they were sent off on a relatively uneventful mission, just the two of them, they would try to find a kid’s event and watch in on it. A puppet show, a crudely put-together drama performance, or, such as now, a beginner’s kung fu demonstration: whatever it was, they would be there to offer up support.

It was always refreshing to see such young creatures doing their best, being encouraged as they found and figured out what they enjoyed, what they were good at. Refreshing to see such pure innocence.

Such innocence was similar to what she saw in Po’s face as he shouted words of praise to the young children throwing sloppy punches.

Perhaps that was what had attracted her most. Somehow, even after everything he had lived through, he never lost his passion for living.

“You know,” she stated as the kids bowed to each other, “I’ve been thinking.”

“About?”  
  
“One day, we’re going to become our own masters and have our own students to train.” A smile warmed its way onto her face as the two kids bowed to their master, who gave them each an affectionate pat on the head. “I was thinking I might take on exclusively children.”  
  
“No kidding?” Po was beaming in the corner of her eye. “That’s cool!”

Inwardly, she sighed. This was by no means something she's "figured out", as it were, in recent times. It was a desire she had kept to herself for many a year now, mostly in fear of ridicule. She had at least been expecting a “How come?” or something along those lines.

“And that’s okay? You don’t think it’s a waste of my talents?”

Po scoffed as two more young trainees, a gosling and a lamb, made their way forward. “You kiddin’ me? Teaching kids to fend for themselves, make themselves strong, make the world a better place? I think that’s awesome! How would that be a waste?”

It was good she brought this up with Po first rather than with anyone else. The others, she knew, wouldn't ridicule her, but their feedback wouldn't have been quite as reaffirming. “Just… a nagging sensation.” She shrugged. “Telling me I should do more.”

A light chuckle rang in her ears. “That’s about as ‘more’ as you can get, Ti. Kids are a handful. You’d be even more busy training a bunch of them than if you just trained a couple of adults! In fact, you…” He trailed off suddenly; his grip on her paw tightened, and she felt him turn his head away. “You, ah… might even, y’know… need some… help… someday.”

When she faced him, she found his face was a light pink, meaning that he was probably flushing a deep crimson beneath his fur.

She prayed silently that he couldn’t feel her pulse quicken.

“I would love the extra help.” She squeezed his paw back in an effort to both comfort him and ease some of her own nervous tension. “If you’d be willing.”

“Well, yeah. Always."

That was the last they talked about it. Nonetheless, Tigress noticed as they went on with their day that Po just couldn’t stop smiling.


	10. A Season of Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which it finally happens.

The season had just turned. Bright oranges and yellows decorated the trees, and they threw longer and deeper shadows over the ground. Days were cooler, nights required blankets once more. Mr. Ping always put out a new seasonal menu this time of year.

Autumn, the season of change. Tigress chuckled to herself. How fitting.

She and her panda had been sitting back-to-back for maybe around an hour, watching the wispy grey clouds roll over the pinpoints of light in the sky, reveling in the refreshing breeze the night provided and the warmth of the other. Po’s back moved against hers as he drew in a deep breath. Even he had seen that, after their earlier exchange, there was no need for words. Perfect and absolute peace.

Maybe this time, it could truly last.

“Sooooo…”

Closing her eyes and leaning her head back against his, the warrior sighed. No. Of course it couldn’t. There were still matters that needed discussing, matters that couldn’t be brought up again until at least this time tomorrow, if they were lucky.

The sooner they were addressed, the better.

“So…?”

Po shifted his weight to look over his shoulder. “Are we gonna, y’know, tell anyone about this?”

“Hmm.” Tigress tilted her head toward his, so that they were cheek-to-cheek. “Shifu would probably have a heart attack.”  
  
“Yeah, he _has_ been looking a little sick…” She stiffened involuntarily as he rubbed his face against hers gently. “And everyone else— _man_ , we’d never hear the end of it! Do you even know how long Monkey’s been teasing me?”

“That answers that then.” Forcing herself to relax, reminding herself that this was okay, this was safe, Tigress returned the gesture; smaller, but no less meaningful. “We’ll keep it between us for the time being.”

 _The Time Being_ , of course, could last a few years, or it could last until next Tuesday. Po had never been the best at keeping his mouth shut.

Which made the next few minutes of silence all the more comfortable, if a bit strange. Tigress was becoming hyper-aware: Po’s fur poked into the side of her face, wiry yet soft, and he rocked back and forth a few millimeters at a time as his heels tapped at the ground. Contentedness radiated from him and wrapped around her in turn.

She would need as much of that positive energy as possible.

“Po.”  
  
“Yeahuh?”

She didn't even need to voice the words to know that they were going to sound painfully cliche. But they were true, and he needed to know this. And, try as she might, she had found no better way to say it.

“Before we… get too far into this, you should know…” Pulling her knees closer to her chest and facing forward again, she winced at her next words. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone.”

When Po didn’t laugh — or really even react, for that matter — a shred of her dignity returned to her, gave her more confidence for the next statement. “So this is all entirely new to me… Be patient with me, okay?”

Only now did he laugh, a light yet nervous _heh-hah_. “Truth be told, I was just about to say the same thing! I’ve never been in a relationship before either.” Judging by how he relaxed further into her as he spoke, Tigress figured he was being truthful. Not that she thought him a liar... He _did_ have a habit of telling her what she wanted to hear, though.

“Hey, look at it this way.” Something pressed down onto her paw; she couldn’t help but smile privately as his fingers came to rest atop her own. “We’ll get to figure this out together.”

A soft hum was all that Tigress uttered in return before she turned her paw upward beneath his, lacing their fingers together.

They didn’t let go until they returned to the barracks just over an hour later.

Standing before their doors, both stared at one another, mouths tightly shut, glancing away when it became clear that neither of them really knew what to say. There had been so much to discuss, and now…

After being pressed against him hand-in-hand for so long, the five feet that separated them felt like a mile. An urge, sudden and almost violent, overcame Tigress, an urge to drop on all fours and sprint across that distance, bring Po back into her arms where he belonged, where he would be safe and cared for and… and _loved._

The same urge must have presented itself to him, because she was wrapped tightly in his fuzzy embrace not even two breaths later.

Tigress was still for a few heartbeats, arms pinned and dangling at her sides and her feet barely touching the floor. He usually gave her a few moments’ notice before initiating such a display of affection. But she felt his cheek press into her ear, could tell from that alone just how hard he was smiling, and she loosened her arms as much as she could to return his hug.

Another handful of heartbeats, and they were back to where they were, only much closer and much, _much_ happier.

“...Uh... “ Po scratched the back of his neck, losing the courage to look her in the eye, but his smile never fading. “See ya in the morning.” Stumbling over his feet, he clumsily slipped back into his room, sliding the door shut a little too hard.

Alone in the hallway, Tigress’ response came far too late. “Good night.”

A shiver rattled her spine without much warning. She would likely need an extra blanket tonight.

For a little bit longer than she really needed to, she stared at Po’s door.

It most certainly was the season of change. To be honest, it scared her a little bit.

But autumn was always such a relief after the blistering heat of summer. Its colors were more vibrant, its weather more pleasant. And its kind treatment was rather unfamiliar at first, but became easier to adjust to as time went on.

A bit of change, she decided as she turned toward her own room, certainly wasn’t a bad thing.


	11. Wěn Wǒ?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which two grown-ass adults can't figure out physical affection.

It was almost sickening, the way Po would look at her. His eyes would sparkle, he would grin like a lovesick teenager, lips pursed, glancing down at her muzzle when he was sure she wasn't looking. And the minute she asked what was wrong or what was going through his head, he would insist nothing was wrong and that he most certainly was  _ not  _ thinking about anything in particular.

Tigress was normally oblivious to matters of the heart until they were laid out in front of her, but even  _ she  _ could tell how badly he wanted to kiss her.

No matter how brash and outgoing he could be, however, he adhered to the promise he made when they had first decided to try their hand at a relationship: he would not touch her (hugs or hand-holding or anything mild of that nature aside) without her explicit permission. As touchy-feely as he was, he knew she held a much more hesitant approach to contact, stemming from a lifetime of neglect and isolation, and he would respect that. 

It was as honorable as it was irritating on both ends.

It was one such night when his eyes began to glimmer and dart between her lips and her own eyes that she decided she’d had enough. After the usual “What’s wrong/Nothing’s wrong” exchange, Tigress announced her intentions to stay behind and train for another hour or two. Goodnights were exchanged. With one last longing gaze disguised as an innocent smile, Po turned back toward the barracks.

Before she could let herself ponder over her decision any longer, to wonder whether it was really as bad of an idea as she feared it would be, she spun him around, seized him by the wrists, and pulled him close, their faces coming together full-force.

Tigress had her first kiss at the age of thirty-five. If that wasn’t interesting enough of a story, said kiss also knocked two of her partner’s teeth right out of his skull.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my head, Po is 30 and Tigress is 35. I don't know why. I just like to imagine that 1.) Tigress is a few years older than Po and 2.) they're both older than they appear.


	12. Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Po recalls that Tigress isn't a fan of puns.

He’d been so focused on just trying to land a punch or two that he hadn’t seen her take a step back.

Down went the panda, exhausted and sore and ready to resign to his defeat. Of course, Po was perfectly fine with losing to the fiercest fighter in China, even proud that he’d been able to keep up for so long this time; it was still kind of embarrassing that he’d always have to tap out before Tigress even broke a sweat, though.

His feet scuffed at the earth in an instinctive attempt to right himself. This only succeeded at flipping him upward so that he would fall on his back, naturally. Just his luck. Po closed his eyes and braced himself–

For a fall that never came. A very familiar, very muscular pair of arms caught him, one cradling his shoulders, the other supporting the small of his back, so that suddenly he stopped before his feet even left the ground.

Green eyes nervously peaked open.

Tigress loomed over him, amusement not very well hidden in the twitch of her whiskers. “Don’t overwork yourself, Dragon Warrior.”

She smiled.

She _smiled_.

Not that it was a rare thing to see, per say: she’d lightened up considerably over the years. Humor and happiness came a bit more easily to her as of late. But to see not just the usual playful smirk that came after a witty retort or the half-smile (coupled with an eye roll and the shaking of her head) she gave whenever Po got himself into trouble, but a genuine, _full_ smile, one that caused her face to squish together and her eyes to glow a bright gold…

It wasn’t until that smile reverted to a somewhat concerned, hardened gaze that he realized how long he’d been staring.

“So tell me. What is the mighty Dragon Warrior thinking about in his hour of defeat?”

Po knew this game. If he was okay, he’d respond in kind. It was Tigress’ way of making sure he was alright without directly asking. If asked up-front, Po would always insist that he was okay even if he very much wasn't, so she'd developed this tactic as an alternative. It was actually pretty clever.

Unlike Po, she actually _thought_ her words through.

“Oh,” he muttered, still somewhat breathless for… one reason or the other. “Nothin’ much. Thinking about how I just _fell_ for you.”

The smile left her face. The great Master Tigress looked, as she often did, thoroughly unamused.

Po had screwed up. Again.

“Heh… Get it? ‘Cause I fell while we were fighting so I _literally_ fell for you and I’m also like head-over-heels for—”

Tigress promptly let go of him.


	13. Keep It at Bay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Po finally wakes up.

“Hey…”

The one word jolted Tigress from her haze of light sleep. That voice. A voice she knew far too well, one she hadn’t heard in far too long…

Blearily, Po smiled up at her from where he lay. “Wha’s goin’ on?” His voice cracked pitifully, a side-effect of having not used it in nearly two days. “Nng… Sorry I woke y’up…”

“No, no,” she said quickly, head rushing with panic and relief and joy and worry. “It’s good that you woke me up. How are you feeling?”

He stared at her for a moment, eyes focusing and unfocusing as he tried to pull himself back into full consciousness. “...Like I got stabbed and haven’t eaten in three days.”

Tigress forced herself not to smile, not to show him just how utterly  _ happy _ she was that he was up, that he was here, that he was already joking around. “Don’t be so dramatic. It’s only been a day and a half.”

“Only a—” As if on cue, his stomach rumbled loudly enough to fill the small and quiet room. “Yeah. This won’t do.” The panda began to shift around with the intention of getting out of bed— only to be reminded, before Tigress even had time to reprimand him, that there was still a very deep and rather nasty gash in his side.

“Yup,” he strained, grinning despite fighting back tears as he sank down once more. “I’m gonna be feelin’ that in the morning.”

She couldn’t help it. Tigress had to smile. Po was stupidly trying to get up and get active when he probably didn’t fully understand what was going on — she was pretty much babysitting him, really — but it was so,  _ so _ thrilling to hear him ramble on, no matter how dumb he was acting, how obliviously dependent he currently was. He was here, he was awake, he was alive, he was alive, he was  _ alive _ …

“Hey Tigress.”

When she pulled herself out of her inner mantra, Po was looking down at his bandaged side. The wrap had been changed just a few hours earlier, before the doctors and the rest of the Palace went to bed, but there was still a small red stain seeping through.

“You think this is gonna leave a scar?” He pondered the notion for a moment, then his face lit up, eyes gleaming in the dark room as his head filled with fantasies. “How cool would  _ that _ be? I mean think about it, twenty years from now: ‘Hey Master Po, how’d you get that scar?’, and then I could make up a new story every time and keep the kids on the edge of their toes! I don’t  _ have _ to tell ‘em that I got it during what was supposed to be an easy and routine mission. That would be—”

He was going to hurt himself if he kept on.

Right now, Tigress wanted nothing more than to curl up next to him on his uninjured side, listen to him talk and talk and talk until the sun peeked over the horizon and they were forced apart by the oncoming day. But there would be time for that. There, by the grace of the gods, would most certainly be time for that.

But for now, he needed to rest. Silently.

She would hear his voice again soon.

Po’s ramble came to a halt against her lips.

“...I’ll notify the doctors that you’re up,” she said once she pulled away, giving his paw a gentle squeeze before standing to leave the dazed panda behind. “Then I’ll get you a snack.”

She wasn’t even to the door when he recovered.

“I can wait until morning.”

“No you can’t.”

“Can we do that again then?”

“Please stop talking.”

“Right. Gotcha.”


	14. Another Bet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which two pandas and a goose may have a gambling problem.

“My boy knows what’s best for him,” said the proud papa panda, raising a bean bun into the air triumphantly. “He knows a good thing when he sees it. He knows when he needs to keep it.”

“ _Please_ don’t tell me you really think he’s going to be the one to pop the question.” Mei Mei huffed teasingly. “He spent a solid twenty minutes avoiding the subject and another ten just trying to get the words ‘I love you’ out of his mouth. And when he did, she said she already knew.”

“Well that—” Li stopped short just before the dumpling reached his mouth. “You spied on them?”

“Wouldn’t you have done the same?”

“Good point.”

“Oh for heaven’s sake, Li Shan,” Ping called from the kitchen, where he was drying off the last of the dishes, “stop betting on their love life! Think of how much money you’ve lost already.”

Li _humph_ ed, flashing a defiant smirk toward the panda opposite him. “It’s not my fault that I get defensive whenever _someone_ suggests that our son wouldn’t even have the nerve to propose.”

Mr. Ping was at the table before either could even blink.

“Thirty yuan.” He slammed his wings onto the table and glared at Mei Mei. “Our son is many things, young lady, but a _coward_ is not one of them!”

“Finally!” A victorious laugh erupted from Li, who scooped the unsuspecting (and still shockingly angry) goose into a crushing hug. “I was beginning to think you’d _never_ side with me.”

Dusk had fallen over the Valley, and her vacation house outside of the village was an hour's walk away. “I never called him a coward,” she corrected, snatching the bowl of dumplings to take with her as an on-the-road snack. “I’m just saying he’s not really as brave as her.”

The huffy remarks of the riled-up fathers grew distant yet still just as intense as she left them behind.

Sixty yuan. She _had_ been saving up for some shiny new nunchucks.


End file.
